Officials are probing how a 51-year-old highway bridge came to collapse in the Italian port city of Genoa yesterday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 16 others as it sent dozens of vehicles tumbling into a heap of concrete and twisted steel.

Gunman behind US television shootings planned attack to maximise publicity

The gunman who shot dead a female reporter and a cameraman on live television appears to have carefully planned the attack to maximise mass media coverage.

WDBJ7 reporter Alison Parker, 24, was interviewing local commerce representative Vicki Gardner at Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta, Virginia at about 6.45am local time (8.45pm last night AEST) with cameraman Adam Ward, 27, when former colleague Vester Lee Flanagan approached the trio and opened fire.

After the shooting, ex-journalist Flanagan uploaded chilling first-person video to Twitter and Facebook showing him walking up to the crew and pointing a gun at Parker before firing.

An account linked to the gunman posted a series of Tweets in the wake of the shooting. (Twitter) ()